Caring for Your Family
Grateful for the Grandparents – Celebrating National Carers Week
Kiri Stejko with her parents and children. PAW’s Fiona Hitchener’s parents with her sons. With National Carers Week upon us, we want to celebrate the significant role that grandparents play in looking after the children of the Parents At Work team. On a quick poll, 90% of the team are supported by grandparents in some form for childcare…
Read MoreBreaking down ‘Carer Stigma’: How to recognise and support carers this National Carers Week
National Carers Week is 13th – 19th October 2019, and is a week to recognise and celebrate the incredible work of carers around the country. With over 2.7 million family and friend carers in Australia, many go unrecognised or are under a lot of pressure as they balance full-time careers with caring responsibilities at home.…
Read MoreNew Family Planning page launched on Parents At Work Learning Platform
Supporting the family before it’s even started Did you know that a recent study found that of those experiencing infertility, 47% had not been open about their struggles at work? And of those, only 29% felt supported by their employer. Just like other medical conditions, infertility drains employees emotionally, physically, mentally and financially. But many of those…
Read MoreWhy I’m ditching the super parent fantasy in 2019
January brings relaxing times and quieter days for some but not all. For parents of young kids and babies, the family tempo may have reduced marginally from manic sprint to marathon jog. But it’s unlikely your ‘holiday’ was filled with breezy afternoons napping, swimming, and relaxing unencumbered by the ties of responsibility. You had kids…
Read MoreWhy we do what we do: the Parental Leave Equality campaign 2018
As we look back on this busy and jam-packed year, we’re feeling a little proud of Parents At Work. Much of our effort this year has been campaigning to get the message of #ParentalLeaveEquality out there – and we know from our work with employers that we have paved the way for introducing better…
Read MoreMy Kid’s Starting Kindy! 10 Top Tips + The Big Question: What age do we send them?
In Australia, parents are charged with the decision on when they send their children to school – at either 4+ years of age, or 5+ years. This turned out to be a far more complex decision than I had anticipated. Why can’t we do it like it is in New Zealand where children start school…
Read MoreDads care too – recognising the rights and needs of fathers as carers
It’s 70 years today since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – it’s a day to reflect, as a global community, that we must continue to strive for the advancement of human rights for all. This year, Parents At Work has been advocating for #ParentalLeaveEquality. It’s about equally supporting both mothers and fathers to enable…
Read MoreSuffering from caring fatigue? Yes, it’s a thing
I care, deeply. I care about the impact I have on others – my kids and partner, their happiness and wellbeing; my whole family and friend circle; my team, colleagues and clients and their families; my local school, my local community, equality, climate change, world peace . . . you get the picture. I worry…
Read MoreAchieving Parental Leave Equality Sydney: Roundtable Discussion Report
‘Despite the rapid rate in which mothers have returned to the workforce over the past 10 – 20 years, there has been almost zero shift in the percentage of men taking up parental leave or opting to stay at home as the primary carer.’ – Excerpt from Roundtable Discussion Report The first national roundtable…
Read MoreThe bad news that motivates us even more: parental leave progress stalled
WGEA have just released their latest Gender Equality Scorecard for 2017-2018, and it’s not great news – especially for parental leave equality. As we look back on five years of equality progress in Australia, there are some wins and there are definitely some losses. “There are a few problem areas. Access to parental leave has…
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